AppleCEO Tim Cook decided it was the right time for him to reveal publicly that he is gay in a essay he wrote for Business Week. There has been media speculation for a long time regarding his personal life but he has never confirmed or denied anything publicly until now.

"I've come to realize that my desire for personal privacy has been holding me back from doing something more important. That's what has led me to today," the 53-year-old Cook wrote. "While I have never denied my sexuality, I haven't publicly acknowledged it either, until now. So let me be clear: I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me."

"Countless people, particularly kids, face fear and abuse every day because of their sexual orientation," Tim continued, "So if hearing that the CEO of Apple is gay can help someone struggling to come to terms with who he or she is, or bring comfort to anyone who feels alone, or inspire people to insist on their equality, then it's worth the trade-off with my own privacy."

Tim Cook has had the unenviable task of taking over as the face of Apple since the dead of Steve Jobs in October 2011. Through the transition though, Apple is still on top of the tech world and released their most recent iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in September 2014.

Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne on April 1, 1976, to develop and sell personal computers. It was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. on January 3, 1977, and was renamed as Apple Inc. on January 9, 2007, to reflect its shifted focus towards consumer electronics.

Apple is the world's second-largest information technology company by revenue after Samsung Electronics, and the world's second-largest mobile phone maker after Samsung. Fortune magazine named Apple the most admired company in the United States in 2008, and in the world from 2008 to 2012. On September 30, 2013, Apple surpassed Coca-Cola to become the world's most valuable brand in the Omnicom Group's "Best Global Brands" report.

As of June 2014, Apple maintains 425 retail stores in fourteen countries, as well as the online Apple Store and iTunes Store, the latter of which is the world's largest music retailer. Apple is the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization, with an estimated market capitalization of $446 billion by January 2014. As of September 29, 2012, the company had 72,800 permanent full-time employees and 3,300 temporary full-time employees worldwide. Its worldwide annual revenue in 2013 totaled $170 billion.